Folding-machine



P. R. GLASS.

FOLDING MACHINE- APPLICATION HLED MAY 14. I917.

htenced July 1.3; 192mm 2 SHEETS-SHEET I P. R. GLASS.

FOLDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I4, I917.

EERLEY Sift. GLASS, OF BBOOKLIIIE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOP, TO 1?. R. GLASS COMPANY, OF IBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHU- FlJLDING-MACHINE Application filed May 14,

To aZZ whom it may 1' 1 acorn Be it known that I, Penney It. Grass, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brookline, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Folding-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to folding machines and is herein illustrated in connection with machine for folding the edges of pieces of upper leather preparatory to incorporating them in boots and shoes.

In folding machines as hitherto constructed, the material has beenfed past a stationary folder or one held from movement in the line of feed in order to form the fold; andv commonlythe material has been fed past a-stationary folder having the form of a plow. in some types of folding machines this has necessitated the reciprocation of comparatively heavy parts, such as the pressing members, in order to feed the material: in others it has necessitated a combined creaser and feed member which moves past the plow during the formation of the fold. Both of these constructions have dis advantages; the first, the vibration and wear due to the weight of the moving parts; the second, the changing relation between the folder and creaser.

According to one feature of the present invention a creaser and a folder are moved in termittently baclnvard along the edge of the material to form the fold while the material is being held stationary by the fold presser. By thus moving the folder and crcascr, which may be elements of small weight in the line of feed, the necessity which exists in some machines for reciproeating the comparatively heavy pi'esser members is obviated. And by causing the creaser and folder to move in unison their relation to each other remains unchanged during the fold forming operation.

These and other features of the invention including certain details of construction and combinations of parts will be described in Specification of Letters Eatent.

connection with an illustrative machine and pointed out in the'appended claims. Referring to the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a perspective of a machine in which the present invention is embodied;

F 1g. 2 1s a perspective showing more particularly the mechanism for actuating the feeding, folding and pressing nu Figs. 3 to (Sinclusive are PBlSPt the feeding, folding and pressing n in different positions 3 to {3 showf. the material in process of being fed. folded and pressed, and i I Fig. 7 is a detail, partly in section. showmg more particularly the mechanism for raising and lowering the lower feed member.

Before proceeding to a detailed descrip tion of the machine. a short explanation of its mode of operation will be given. Refer-ring more particularly to Figs. 3 to 7, the material to be folded is supported on a table 9 upon which is fastened a stationary an *il 11 having an inclined face. A hammer 13 having a complementary face is oscillated toward and from the anvil at the proper time to press the fold and to hold the material while the feedinp and folding means, presently to be referred to, moves back to grip the material preparatory to feeding it forward. The feeding means comprises an upper feed member and creaser. 15 and a lower feed member 17. said lower member being: raised and lowered intermittently at the proper times to grip and release the material: and the folding means is a plow 19. The feeding in M1115 and the plow are mounted on a slide 52]. (see Fig. 2) and all of the members of the feeding and folding means are moved backward and forward to- ;rethc as the slide is moved. Starting with the parts in the positions shown in Fig. 3, the upper feed member 15 is raised by depressing the linger-piece Q3. and the work is placed in position as shown in Fig. 4. The

fcedinp and folding means then move forward into the positions shown in Fig. 5

which brings the forward part of the fold beneath the hammer. The hammer then descends as shown in FW. 6, and the lower Patented July i3, 192%.

1917. Serial No. 152,482.

till

2% I incense feeding member 17 is lowered to release the "rip of the feeding means upon the work. Vhilc the work is held by the hammer, the feeding and folding means are moved back,

5 whereupon the lower feeding'member 17 and the hammer 13 are raised, and the parts are once more in the position shownin Fig. 1. During the forward movement of the feeding means and plow, the work is fed ;7 during in the rearward movement the margin of the work is folded or turned over by the plow as it is drawn along the "edge of the mate rial. With this brief description of the operation of the machine the details of its 15 construction will now be described.

The moving parts of the machine which have been described above receive their mo tion from a. driving shaft having eccentrics thereon two of which are showniat 2o 27 and 29. The eccentric 27 oscillates a forked lever 81 about the. axis of a stationary shaft 32 said lever being connected. through a yoke 39 and spring 33w1th thestem 35 of the hammer 13, said stem being 25 ivoted at 87 to the frame of the machine. he spring 33 surrounds the stem of the yoke, a thumb nut 41 serving tovary the tension of the spring and consequently thepressure of the hammer upon the work. so The eccentric 29 oscillates a forked lever 4-3 which is mounted similarly to the lever Bland is connected with the lower feeding member 17 through a yoke 45 and spring 47. I The feeding member is carried at one end 35 of an arm 49 which is pivoted at its other end to the slide 21, the yoke -15 extending up througha slot in the slide and being pivoted at its upper end to the arm 49. Its

stem extends throughabracket 51, which y to may be ad'usted tohvary'thetension of the spring, an through a uide formed on the side of a block 53 whic is pivoted at 55 to the forked lever By l'oosening the locking screw 57 and turning. the adjusting screw 59 the bracket 51 may beraised or lowered to vary the tension of the spring 4:7.

A third eccentric (not shown) on the shaft 2.5 oscillates athird forked lever 61 which is connected by levers as shown with to the slide 21'. This lever'and its connection to the slide is practically identical with the construction shown and described in British Patent No. 15,405 of 1912 and will not be described further except to point out that to adjustment of a block 63 in a slot in the lever 61 by means'of a fork65 varies the extent of movement of the slide 21, said adjustment and variation being possible during; the operation of the machine. at a. dearth eccentric 67 on the shaft 25 is connected. by suitable mechanism with a shipping knife 69, in the present machine the stem of the knife is pivoted at the end of an mzerhanging arm 71 while in the ma- 55 chine'of the British patent the knife is piv- ""should be understood that while in my prior oted at a pointibeneath the work table.

Otherwise the two constructions are substantially the same and ,no further description of the present construction will be given other than to explain that the knife is normally inoperative but may be vibrated at any time by depressing a treadle (not,

nlls the bar 73 to the left shown) which The details of ,con-

as viewed in ig'. 1.

struction and mounting of the knife mecha- 75 nism, as well as those of the slide 21, and v the inclined hammer and various other features herein shown form no part of the' present invention but are claimed in United States Patents No. 1,281,555, granted Oct. 15, 1918, and'No. 1,270,753, granted June 25,1918, on applications filed by me.

In the machines of these prior patents the hammer and anvil move with the slide 21 to feed the work. In the present ma 5 chine the anvil is stationary and the ham mer has no movement in the line ofnfeed. Instead the plow 19 and-the'memberlziare Y mounted upon the slide and move backward and forward with it. The plow is fastened to the slideby a screw. The mom I .ber 15 is mounted ina head 75 which is fastened to the'slide 21. the member 15 in the head 75 is substan- The mounting of tially the same as that of the British patent, 5 and the details of construction are claimed in my prior -United States patents which have been referred to. Fbr the purpose of describing the present invention it is neces sary to explain merely that the member is held in the position shown by a spring but may be raised to permit presentation of the work by depressing the. finger piece 23. It

ber is a combined creaser and upper feed member. I

A general description of the operation of the machine has beengiven above and need not be repeated. It will be clear now'th'at the combined upper feed member and creaser 15 together with the plow 19 move forward and back with the slide 21, and that the lower feed member 17 has in addition'an' up and down movement to grip and releasethe work at the proper times. The mechanism for moving the slide 21 and for varying the extent of its movement is so constructed and arranged that the-limit of the a forward movement of the slide is always the same. That is, the plow comes to rest in its forward position always at the same 126 point. This is desirable in that it keeps the folding instrumentalities near together when the feed is shortened to go around small curves; and further in that it permits the back of the plow to be used'as a shear 188* 

